***The **Fierce **One ***
She has a luminous complexion like a thousand rising suns. She wears silken red clothes and a garland of severed heads. Her breasts are smeared with blood. She has four arms: in two of her hands she holds a rosary and a book, and with her other two hands she makes the gestures of assurance and conferring boons. She has three eyes that resemble large lotuses. On her forehead is the half-moon and on her head a jeweled crown. She smiles.1
She is brilliant like the rising sun and wears the moon crest on her head. She has three eyes and is lovely in her various ornaments. She is the destroyer of enemies. She wears a garland of freshly severed heads that are still vomiting blood. She wears red clothes. She has ten hands and carries a trident, small drum, sword, club, bow, arrows, noose, goad, book, and rosary. She is seated on a corpse throne.2
A Hymn in Praise of Bhairavī
I have been unable to find any myths concerning the origin or emergence of Bhairavi, which is surprising in view of her widespread popularity in Nepal. As a way of introducing her multifaceted nature, therefore, it may be helpful to quote a relatively early hymn in her praise from the *Sarada-tilaka *(this ninth-century C.e. text is attributed to Laksmana Desikendra, the guru of the tenth-century Kashmiri philosopher Abhinavagupta).
You are so subtle that the gods cannot describe you. You are the source of the world and have no beginning. You have three eyes, a beautiful face, and four hands in which you hold a book and a rosary and with which you make the signs of assurance and giving favors. You are the source of speech, of everything graceful, the source of the universe itself. You wear the moon as a crest in your hair and have a white complexion like the autumn moon. You hold a jar of *amrta *[immortality nectar] and make the gesture of exposition/teaching. When Siva and Visnu are worshiped, you are there to be worshiped as well. You are also Brahma, where speech abides. You are the nature of consciousness; you control the vital air, and by granting yogic powers you defeat the six kinds of passions: sexual lust, greed, delusion, intoxication, jealousy, and anger. Siva, having obtained half of your body [in his half-man/half-woman form], was then empowered to create the world. The world cannot be created without you. After worshiping you, the wives *of the siddhas *[heavenly beings] become red eyed because of drinking too much wine. They sing your names along with the *kinnaras *[heavenly beings]. We worship you who as the coiled serpent *(kundalini) *goes to the city of Siva after passing along the *susumna **nadi *making all the lotuses bloom [an allusion to the awakening and rising of the *kundalini, *representing consciousness]. We worship you who are bathed with a flow of nectar. You are the source of all Vedas; your form is consciousness itself. You are the creator of the world in the form of sound and meaning. You maintain the world by your power as the sun, and you dissolve the world in your form as fire. Narayani, Gauri, and Sarasvati are also your names.3
This hymn emphasizes the cosmic aspect of Bhairavl, not her fearsome nature (which is mentioned in later texts and suggested in her name itself, “the fierce one”), nor her role as the consort of Bhairava (a fierce form of Siva, which is also implied in her name). The hymn primarily describes Bhairavi in a position of cosmic preeminence: as overseeing or empowering the three male deities usually associated with creation, maintenance, and destruction or as assuming these roles herself. She is not a consort but is independent of the gods and transcends them. This is a common emphasis in many goddess texts and hymns, especially those pertaining to the Mahavidyas.
The hymn also emphasizes her beauty and power to cause erotic excitement. Heavenly beings are intoxicated by worshiping her, and her face and form are described as beautiful. On the other hand, she is said to control passion as well as arouse it. Through yoga, she gives the power to overcome worldly passions. She is also cast in the role of revealer and teacher. She creates the Vedas, the source of all knowledge and wisdom; she is shown making the gesture of teaching and is said to carry a book.
The hymn also identifies Bhairavi with *kundalini **sakti *and thereby with the inherent power of awakened consciousness that is cultivated in tantric *sadhand *(spiritual practice). In this respect she is affirmed to exist inwardly, as the inherent spiritual power that can be aroused in an individual by means of meditation or other spiritual techniques or rituals. This aspect of Bhairavi complements her transcendent, cosmic aspect, lending her an intensely immanent presence.
The Goddess of Destruction
At the close of the hymn from the *Sdradd-tilaka *we hear of Bhairavi’s destructive aspect: at the end of the cosmic cycle, in her form as fire, she dissolves the world. As the universe-ending fire, she resembles Siva in his form as the destroyer. Her destructive nature, though, is a very minor theme in the *Sdradd-tilaka *hymn. Some recent interpretations, however, focus on Bhairavi’s name, “the fierce one,” on her association with fierce forms of Siva, and on her often fierce appearance.
One scholar interprets Bhairavi as a female version of Siva in his destructive form as Kala-bhairava, in which he punishes people both living and dead. He notes that Kala-bhairava is closely associated with Yama, lord of death, who lives in the south, and says this is why Siva is also known as Daksinamurti, “whose form faces southward.” Kalabhairava’s consort, he says, is Tripura-bhairavl, who is constantly occupied with destroying the three worlds; hence her name, “she who is fierce in the three worlds.” Creation and destruction are the two essential aspects of the universe, which is continually subject to their alternating rhythms. The two are equally dominant in the world and indeed depend upon each other in symbiotic fashion. Bhairavi embodies the principle of destruction. Tripura-bhairavi arises or becomes present when the body declines and decays, which is a natural, inevitable, and irresistible force. She is also evident in self-destructive habits, such as eating *tdmasic *food (food having a quality associated with ignorance and lust) and drinking liquor, which wear down the body and mind. She is present, he says, in the loss of semen, which weakens males. Anger, jealousy, and other selfish emotions and actions strengthen Bhairavi’s presence in the world. Righteous behavior, conversely, makes her weaker. In short, she is an ever-present goddess who manifests herself in, and embodies, the destructive aspects of the world. Destruction, however, is not always negative, this interpreter says: creation cannot continue without it. This is most clear in the process of nourishment and metabolism, in which life feeds on death; creation proceeds by means of transformed energy given up in destruction.4
A second contemporary author interprets Bhairavl in a similar vein. According to this writer, Bhairavi is identical with Kalaratri, a name often associated with Kali that means “black night [of destruction]” and refers to a particularly destructive aspect of Kali. She is also identified with Mahapralaya, the great dissolution at the end of a cosmic cycle, during which all things, having been consumed by fire, are dissolved in the formless waters of precreation. She is the force that tends toward dissolution. This force, furthermore, which is actually Bhairavi herself, is present in each person as one gradually ages, weakens, and finally dies. Destruction is apparent everywhere, and therefore Bhairavi is present everywhere.5
Bhairavi’s fierce, terrible, or destructive nature is emphasized in some of her descriptions; for example, she is said to wear a garland of freshly severed heads that gush blood over her breasts and to be seated on a corpse (see the *dhyana *mantra of Rudra-bhairavl, preceding note 2 above). This aspect of Bhairavi is also mentioned fairly often in her thousand-name hymn from the *Visvasara-tantra, *where she is called Extremely Terrible (Ghora-tara), Black Night (Kalaratri), Fierce One (Candi), She Who Creates Fear and Awe, Who Has a Terrible Face, Who Has the Face of a Ghost, Who Arises from the Body of a Corpse, Who Likes Blood, Who Drinks Blood, Who Destroys the Body, and Who Is the Cause of Mahapralaya.6 This hymn also often identifies her with the sun and fire, which may have destructive functions but are not specifically mentioned as destructive forces when she is associated with them.7 She is said to dwell in cremation grounds (Smasana-vasinl, Smasanalayavasini) and to have a corpse as a seat (Savasana).8 Her thousand-name hymn in the *Sdkta-pramoda *says that she sits on a corpse, eats the flesh of a corpse, is fond of flesh, drinks blood, and destroys those who criticize the offering of blood (perhaps the Vaisnavas). She is also called Kotaraksi, “whose eyes are sunken” (probably from being emaciated),9 which associates her with the terrible forms of Kali and Camunda, who are often described as having sunken eyes. In short, Bhairavi is strongly associated with destruction, is often said to have a fierce, terrible, frightening nature, and is fond of meat and blood. In Nepal, the “Bhairavi of Nawakot… is believed annually to disseminate *awal *(malaria) in the Trisuli Valley lowlands, sparing only those who adequately appease her.“10 In these respects, she fulfills the promise of her name, Bhairavl, “the fierce one.”
The Goddess of Many Forms
Bhairavi has several distinct forms, some of which have separate mantras and yantras in tantric manuals. Other goddesses among the Mahavidyas have more than one form, but none has as many as Bhairavl. The *Tantrasara *describes twelve separate forms of Bhairavl, and taken together they suggest a multifaceted goddess, a goddess who is certainly not limited to being the embodiment of destruction.” The names of several of her forms stress that she gives a range of blessings. As Sampatprada-bhairavi she gives riches, as Sakalasiddhi-bhairavi she is the one who grants every perfection, as Bhayavidhvarhsinl-bhairavi she destroys all fears, as Caitanya-bhairavl she gives awakened consciousness, as Bhuvanesvari-bhairavi she is present in creation and engenders growth, as Kamesvari-bhairavi she kindles sexual desire and grants sexual gratification, and as Annapurnesvari-bhairavi she gives food. These last two forms deserve some comment, as they present such a strong contrast to the destructive aspect that tends to dominate her character.
Kamesvari denotes a form of Bhairavi who is mistress of Kama-deva, the god of sexual desire, namely, Rati (whose name means “sexual intercourse”). As Kamesvari, she embodies sexual desire and lends to creation its distinctive quality of being pervaded by the mutual attraction of the sexes. One of her *dhydna *mantras, that of Sampatprada-bhairavl, says that she is intoxicated with her youth, and most descriptions of her, despite her associations with destruction, say that she is attractive, young, and shapely. Bhairavi’s association with sexual desire and fulfillment is mentioned often in her thousand-name hymns. In the *Sdkta-pramoda, *for example, she is called She Who Is Fond of Semen and Menstrual Blood and She Who Is Worshiped by Those Who Worship with Semen.12 In her thousand-name hymn in the *Visvasdra-tantra, *she is called Lovely One, She Whose Form Is Semen, Who Produces Semen, Who Gives Love, Who Enjoys Sexual Intercourse, Who Is Dear to Kama, and Who Dwells in the Yoni.13
At one point, the *Tantrasara *says that Bhairavi is the consort of Rama- deva and stipulates that the adept imagine and interiorize the five different forms of the love god with the corresponding five forms of Rati, his consort.14 Bhairavi is also worshiped through *bana **nydsa **(nydsa *is a ritual by means of which one divinizes the body with mantras and *mudrds). *In *bana **nydsa, *the adept places the five flower arrows of Rama in the fingers of both hands and empowers himself or herself in the arts of love.
Each of the flower arrows produces an intoxicating emotion of love and desire, such as excessive agitation, a melting sensation, an irresistible attraction to another, and stupefaction.15
Annapurnesvari-bhairavi reveals a quite different dimension of Bhairavi by identifying her with the well-known goddess Annapurna. Annapurnadevl, the goddess “who is filled with food,” is strongly associated with Siva and a domestic setting. She is a goddess of the kitchen, as it were, whose basic function is to satisfy the hunger of her husband, and by extension, as he is Pasupati, “lord of creatures,” to satisfy the hunger of all creatures. Bhairavi’s fearsome aspects are here completely submerged. The *dhyana *mantra from the *Tantrasara *describes her thus:
She is golden in color and wears the moon crest on her forehead. She is covered with nine kinds of jewels and is dressed in multicolored clothes. She has three eyes, which are wide and long, and golden jarlike breasts. She is with Paficamukha-siva [Siva having five faces], who is white in color and has a smiling face and a blue throat. He wears an animal hide and serpents for clothing, and he shines like the *kunda *flower [a bright white blossom]. Looking on the goddess, he dances in delight. She is pleasing in appearance and wears a golden girdle that adorns her full buttocks. She is giving food to Siva. Flanking her are the goddesses Sri and Bhumi [goddess of the earth].16
The presence of Sri and Bhumi in the company of Annapurnesvari is significant; they are both strongly identified with Visnu. Although Annapurna-devi is well known as the consort of Siva, or a form of his consort, Annapurnesvari is associated with a range of Vaisnavite deities. In constructing her yantra physically or mentally, in addition to invoking Sri and Bhumi, the adept invokes other deities associated with Visnu: Varaha, Narayana, and Kamala. The worshiper prays to them for plentiful food so that he or she can provide for others.17 The presence of the Vaisnava deities, who are generally benign and concerned with worldly blessings, as opposed to Saivite deities, who have more pronounced ascetic tendencies, is probably meant to underline Annapurnesvari’s nature as a beneficent provider.18
Cosmic Dimensions
Bhairavi has facets and epithets that assert her cosmic importance, if not supremacy. A commentary on the *Parahirama-kalpasutra * says that the name Bhairavi is derived from the words *bharana *(to create), *ramana *(to protect), and *vamana *(to emit or disgorge).19 The commentator, that is, seeks to discern the inner meaning of Bhairavi’s name by identifying her with the cosmic functions of creation, maintenance, and destruction. The image of the basic cosmic rhythm as one of inhaling and exhaling is perhaps suggested by the commentator’s use of the term *vamana *and may reflect the Kashmir Saivite emphasis on the rhythm of breathing as a metaphor for the nature of ultimate reality, which alternately reveals or emanates itself and then withdraws and obscures itself.
In her thousand-name hymn from the *Visvasara-tantra, *Bhairavi has several names that identify her with philosophical or cosmic absolutes. She is called Paramesvari (mistress of all), Jaganmata (mother of the world), Jagaddhatri (world nurse or she who nourishes the world), Parama (she who is the highest), Parabrahmasvarupini (she whose form is the highest *brahman), *and Srstisamharakarini (she who is the cause of creation and destruction).20 These names, like her many forms, emphasize that she is a complete goddess, as it were, not just a goddess associated with destructive energy.